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American Morning

35 Tornadoes in Five States; Getting out of Iraq

Aired November 16, 2005 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. Tracking severe weather, as summer and winter collide: 35 tornadoes in five states, at least one person killed, dozens injured, homes severely damaged. Today's stormy forecast is ahead.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Getting out of Iraq. Capitol Hill in a heated debate over an exit strategy as the public sours on the war. Lawmakers consider a strategy for re- election. Is the Republican Congress turning on the president?

S. O'BRIEN: And President Bush landing in South Korea just hours ago to meet with Asian leaders there, and delivering a direct challenge to China, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Wild night of weather here.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. It's been bad. It's coming in our direction, too.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is, five states, 35 tornadoes. I think one estimate was 200 tornado warnings. I hope people were heeding them. In this case, it happened in the afternoon, which is key, people were up, listening to media and so forth. As a result, we have only one death to report. Tragic as that is, it could have much worse if people were sleeping.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, in fact the worst damage -- you're just looking at some of the pictures now, near Madisonville, Kentucky. You can see homes just completely flattened. The trees, obviously, knocked down by the force of that storm, and the power outages and gas leaks to report as well. Twenty-people there injured, three of them critically. And the National Guard now is in there helping with rescue and recovery as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Let's look at what is in the path of those tornadoes. In particular, we're going to go to Tennessee. One place hit very hard, Clarksville. We're headed about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, and that's where we find CNN's Rick Sanchez this morning.

Rick, tell us about the damage there.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Miles.

We've been driving, in fact, literally. We were able to put a shot up so we can bring you this report. And as we were coming down the road, we were seeing cars that had actually been picked up and overturned on the long side of the road.

We also saw at least one grocery store that seems to have been destroyed. Now we're in an area that was referred to us as a mobile- home park. In actuality, it's just different homes in a rural area of Tennessee.

We're just real close to the Kentucky border. I think you can tell behind me that at least that home, there's not much left of it. It looks like there was another part of it. I'll get out of the way for you. You can see it was a part of the home that was pretty much taken out. Part of the foundation is still there. And that one piece of the home remaining.

Off to my right, I see what may have been parts of either this home or another home that are literally wrapped around a tree. You can tell that this tornado came through here, don't know on the Fujita Scale exactly what type of tornado it was but it was a touchdown, it was sighted, and this is the area where it came through. Trees were knocked down. Parts of the roads are covered with either power poles or some of the lines themselves that were down on the way in, which makes for, as you might imagine, after hurricanes as well in situations like this, some treacherous driving.

This isn't the only area that's been affected, though. There was at least one area in Kentucky that was affected insofar as it caused a death. We're told in that area, at least one person who was inside a trailer home got picked up, the trailer home, that is, it was tossed about, then it caught fire, and the person inside the home died, according to officials that we have talked to. That is in an area of Marshall City. We're told there as well that there are National Guardsmen on the scene.

Also the situation in Hopkins County and in Tennessee. As many as five counties were affected in one way or another by tornadic activity.

Miles, let me send it over back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Rick Sanchez in Tennessee, we'll check back with you in a little bit -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: More now on a story we've been following for days for you. The double killings in Pennsylvania, and the relationship between two teenagers who were right in the middle of that case. Allan Chernoff is live for us this morning in Lititz, in Pennsylvania.

Allan, good morning.

Update us now on the story, will you?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

David Ludwig is waking up this morning in the Lancaster County Prison after his arraignment here at the county courthouse. He is charged with killing the parents of his 14-year-old girlfriend, and it appears their relationship was far more intimate than most friends and family had realized.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Accused killer David Ludwig, handcuffed and shackled, returning to eastern Pennsylvania. Minutes later he arrived at Lancaster County Court.

(on camera): Inside, an 18-year-old who looked like an average kid in an orange-and-white jumpsuit politely answered the judge yes, sir, when told the arraignment was not the determination of guilt. Then the charges. Two counts of homicide, one count of kidnapping, and one count of reckless endangerment.

(voice-over): Judge Dan Garrett sent Ludwig to prison to await a pretrial hearing next week.

DONALD TATARO, LANCASTER CO. PA. D.A.: The district justice established no bail would be set, because this is a case that will potentially call for a maximum sentence of life in prison or death.

SGT. DAVID BURSTIN, INDIANA STATE POLICE: And the limited exposure that I had of David Ludwig, he just seemed very cool, matter of fact, and does not seem to be distressed about anything that has happened thus far.

CHERNOFF: This is not the David Ludwig friends and neighbors thought they knew.

Twenty-one-year-old Tiffany Bomberger said she'd been friends with David for eight years. They met at activities arranged by the local Christian Home School Association.

TIFFANY BOMBERGER, LUDWIG'S FRIEND: I was floored. I didn't -- I didn't know he could do something like that, because he's a great guy.

CHERNOFF: Ludwig, friends and neighbors say, also met Kara Borden through the home-schooling group.

BOMBERGER: We had a coed basketball team that they were both on and soccer team that they were both on. And I knew they were friends. I knew they hung out a lot.

CHERNOFF: And Tiffany says it was clear a relationship had developed.

Friends of both families say the parents, particularly Kara's, did not approve.

It is not clear just how much the parents knew. In an affidavit, detectives report a close friend of Ludwig's described it as a secret, intimate relationship of a sexual nature, saying they often communicated flirtatious messages and exchanged inappropriate images of one another via various electronic media, to include their computer systems and cell phones. On his personal Web page, Ludwig has no reference to his 14-year- old girlfriend. He cites his areas of expertise: computers, volleyball, getting in trouble. And there is a link to pictures of Ludwig wielding a sword. Kara Borden, on her Web site, cites her interests is Jesus, church, my youth group.

CHIEF RICHARD GARPIOLI, WARWICK TOWNSHIP POLICE: She is a victim right now, and she will stay a victim, unless I hear otherwise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: The judge set a pretrial hearing for next Wednesday, and told Ludwig to get a lawyer. His girlfriend, Kara, is now with family this morning -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff, reporting for us from Lancaster, Pennsylvania this morning. Allan, thanks -- Miles..

M. O'BRIEN: Overseas this morning, President Bush continues his trip through Asia. The president arrived in South Korea just about three hours ago. The president will attend an economic conference before heading to China and Mongolia. This is the second stop in Asia on the president's eight-day trip. Senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy is in Busan.

Mike, what should we expect today?

MIKE CHINOY, CNN SR. ASIA CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. Well, the president is resting now. On Thursday morning local time, he'll be meeting with South Korea's president, and then with 20 other leaders of Pacific nations for this two-day APEC summit.

Before coming to South Korea, the president delivered a major speech in Japan. It's central them, the importance of promoting democracy, and its central target, China, and its communist rulers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As China reforms its economy, its leaders are finding that once the door to freedom is open even a crack, it cannot be closed. As the people of China grow in prosperity, their demands for political freedom will grow as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHINOY: The fact the president used this occasion to talk so much about China, while in Japan, is indicative of the fact that China is really the rising power in this part of the world, growing economic clout, growing diplomatic clout and growing increasingly strong military. And all of the nations gathered at this summit are, in one way or another, having to come to terms with that fact.

M. O'BRIEN: Mike Chinoy in Busan, Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: More U.S. troop deaths to tell but in Iraq. Three soldiers killed by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, and a Marine died in a suicide car bomb north of Fallujah. Meanwhile, the president's policy on Iraq is under fire on Capitol Hill.

CNN's Ed Henry has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The message to President Bush traveling in Asia was clear and bipartisan: Explain the plan for ending the war in Iraq.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: The administration's Iraq policy is adrift and rudderless. All they're offering is a bumper- sticker slogan, stay the course. Staying the course is not a winning strategy.

HENRY: Republicans directed their criticism at the Iraqi people. But were also prodding the White House.

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), ARMED SERVICES CHAIRMAN: This amendment, as drawn, is very powerful, very powerful, statement by Congress of the need to tell the Iraqi people that we have done our share. We're not going to leave them, but we expect from them equal, if not greater, support than they've given to this date.

HENRY: The amendment to the defense policy bill passed overwhelmingly, 79-19, demanding the Bush administration explain, quote, "its strategy for the successful completion of the mission in Iraq." It directs the White House to provide progress reports to Congress every 90 days, and urges the administration to force the Iraqis to pick up a larger share of the security burden.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Only this president could unite the United States Senate. He has united the United States Senate on a single point: What is the plan?

HENRY: But the Senate rejected a Democratic move to also require the president to craft a flexible timetable to start withdrawing U.S. troops.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Some have referred to this as the cut and run provision. That is, pick an arbitrary timeline and get out of Iraq regardless of what is happening on the ground.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: What we propose in paragraph seven is that there be estimated dates, estimated dates. If the conditions on the ground are met, then give us estimated dates for a phased redeployment.

HENRY: There are other signs of trouble for the White House in the defense bill, like Republican Senator John McCain's ban on torture of detainees, included over the strong objections of Vice President Cheney. And Republican Lindsey Graham's amendment, giving detainees at Guantanamo Bay limited legal rights, wresting some power away from the administration.

(on camera): House Republicans could water down the defense bill but this is still a wake-up call to the White House.

Republicans up here are nervously watching the polls. They have to face the voters next year. The White House does not.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: And the war in Iraq dogging the administration elsewhere as well. Listen to what happened to Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday at the University of Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Howard went to Washington in 1967 as the first popularly elected Republican senator from this great state.

(CROSSTALK)

Though young, Senator Baker was quickly judged to be wise beyond his years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: You can hear they're yelling stop the war, among other things in the background there. The student got the vice president's attention, but he kept on, obviously, with his speech. In that speech, he was honoring former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker.

Ahead this morning, we're going to talk about the fight against bird flu. People around the world are stocking up on the drug, Tamiflu. One expert says, though, that's a big mistake. We're going to find out why.

M. O'BRIEN: Curious about that one.

Plus, more on the deadly twisters that ripped through five states. We're going to talk to an expert. Why are they happening now in the fall? That's not the time we normally think about seeing twisters.

S. O'BRIEN: And first, though, this question, which of the following is not a clue to a developing tornado. Is it, a, a loud roar, like a freight train? Is it, b, a dark greenish sky? Is it, c, the absence of birds and insects? Or is it, d, large hail?

Do you know the answer?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's easy, don't you think?

S. O'BRIEN: No!

M. O'BRIEN: Anyway, I'll give you a clue. The answer might bug you! S. O'BRIEN: The answer, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Before the break, we asked you this question. What's not a clue to a developing tornado? The answer, as Miles gave away, is, c, the absence of birds and insects. It seems, in fact, that wildlife are unaffected by approaching tornadoes. Another clue to a developing twister, though, is frequent lightning.

It's unclear what warning what people got as the tornado came on the ground. You're looking at pictures from yesterday in Madisonville, Kentucky as the tornado hits the ground there. A pretty dramatic amateur videotape coming to us.

The question, though, is why now? It seems sort of late in the season for tornadoes. But what's behind what feels like a slew of warnings. Let's get right to Dan McCarthy. He's a meteorologist at the government's Storm Prediction Center, and he's in Oklahoma City this morning.

It's nice to see you, Dan. Thanks for talking with us.

Am I wrong about that? is it not unusual to have this number of -- there are more than 200 warnings yesterday.

DAN MCCARTHY, NOAA STORM PREDICTION CENTER: Yes, there was, Soledad. And it's not unusual. Usually, this is the time of year that we get our second season. Usually from mid October to the end of November.

S. O'BRIEN: That storm is now moving our direction here in the east, leaving a real path of destruction in its wake. What predicts how bad the tornado season is going to be? Or is it essentially a guess every season?

MCCARTHY: Well, tornadoes are day-to-day type of thing that you forecast for. You might be able to get the conditions just right or see the conditions develop. Maybe three, four days out in advance. But so much can happen with thunderstorms interactions that tornadoes need just the exact right amount of ingredients to happen, and they just need just the right conditions to take place.

S. O'BRIEN: So what exactly were the right conditions that caused? And we're looking at pictures of the damage yesterday. That caused those tornadoes?

MCCARTHY: Well, yesterday, we had a very strong cold front that was sweeping across the Midwest. In fact, in the low to mid 70s out ahead of the fronts in parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, and it was in the mid 30s back in western Missouri. That is one condition. Then we had just the right conditions of the jetstream. We had a southerly flow near the surface. We had a west-southwesterly flow at around 20,000 feet, and that really imparts the rotation on some of these storms that produced the numerous tornadoes. We had three dozen tornado reports yesterday. S. O'BRIEN: What kind of role is the fluctuation that we've been seeing, certainly here in the Northeast, and across the country as well? You know, one day it's 40 degrees, the next day it's 75 degrees, the next day it's back down to 30 degrees. Does that play any kind of role?

MCCARTHY: It can. Just like in the springtime when we're getting warm weather returning from the south around the Gulf of Mexico region. Now we're getting the return of the cold air from the polar regions. When you get that kind of warm-and-cold interaction, you get these strong thunderstorms that we call supercells.

S. O'BRIEN: Many people say it's global warming, even if they don't exactly know what global warming is. It sort of has that feel of something else at work. Do you agree with that?

MCCARTHY: Well, there are some people waking up with temperatures, like here in Oklahoma, we're in the low 30s or even in the mid 20s. It doesn't feel like much global warming is going on. But global warming right now does not have really a scientific link that we know of, because tornadoes are such a day-to-day thing.

The increasing number of in tornadoes that we see from year-to- year is due to many things. We see them, or we can detect storms that produce tornadoes on radar better, but we also have more storm spotters out there to report the storms.

S. O'BRIEN: So in a way it's just people are noticing more than necessarily an increase in the number of storms. Give me a sense of what you think's going to happen with this storm as it heads our direction now. More tornadoes?

MCCARTHY: Well, I think -- yesterday, we had a high risk of severe weather that was issued by the Storm Prediction Center. Today, it's just a slight risk. It looks like today with the way the trough is moving into the East Coast, the way the cold front is and the way the jetstream is set up, I think our main threat today might be some hail, but more damaging winds, not as many tornadoes.

S. O'BRIEN: And when is everybody out of the woods? When does the tornado season, if you will, end?

MCCARTHY: Well, this cold front is going to make it all the way through the Gulf of Mexico, which is going to start to cool the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It's also going to make it harder for dew points and low moisture to make it up into the southeast. So we may have one more cold front maybe in a week or so that could produce some severe weather, possibly in the southeast, but this cold front may be the sweeping blow that quiets the season down.

S. O'BRIEN: Meteorologist Dan McCarthy. Dan, thanks very much. Appreciate the insight.

MCCARTHY: Thank you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: He joins us from the NOAA Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma today -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, "Minding Your Business." The Senate takes on Big Oil. Looks like Uncle Sam may be ready to take a big bite out of the industry's record profits. What about your wallet? How will it fare?

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A reminder, next week on AMERICAN MORNING, we are celebrating the week of giving. If you were affected by this season's hurricanes and you want to thank someone who helped you, please send us your story. You can go to CNN.com/AM. We're going to post some of your responses on the Web site, and some of the people will be selected to share their stories with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: As Andy Serwer said, would you just slip in a check with that? It's the week of giving. No, don't -- we're not asking for money.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, this is about giving to other people.

M. O'BRIEN: Simply in jest. Every week is a week of giving for Andy Serwer, because he gives us such interesting stories about the world of business, and here we're talking about oil. They made $33 billion in the third quarter.

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: That's some real money. And now?

SERWER: Well, now, the government wants them to give, to continue our theme perhaps unnecessarily, back to federal government in the form of taxes. Yes, Big Oil may be slapped with a windfall profit tax. Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee decided to impose a $5 billion tax on Big Oil next year.

However, there are many caveats, as you might imagine. First of all, the Senate Republicans and Democrats who supported the measure have declined to call it a windfall-profits tax. That's kind of a dirty word, you can imagine. Also...

M. O'BRIEN: But if it taxes like a duck?

SERWER: Well, it taxes like a duck actually, but it is bit of an accounting gimmick, and in fact that's what conservative Republicans are calling it. Also the measure may be refined. It's part of a larger tax bill, and then of course it has to be approved by the Senate.

M. O'BRIEN: It may be refined. That's very good. That's very good.

SERWER: Thank you.

Then of course it has to pass the full Senate. The House is working on a version as well.

But it's interesting, I think the political wrangling that's taking place right now shows that the Senate might have the fortitude to do this, because even Republicans seem to be up to the task.

The question is, will it happen at the end of the day? And it's not at all clear that it will.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let me ask you this, if they take this $5 billion out, if this actually gets through, and that's unclear...

SERWER: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: ... where's that money going to go? not back in our wallets, right? We're still going to end up paying the same amount at the pump, right?

SERWER: That's probably true. And of course what the oil companies are going to say is it's going to reduce the amount of money they have to explore for oil, and that would make prices go up even more. Of course, that is their perspective.

M. O'BRIEN: Two words, alternative fuels. If they that put in that, that would be worth the money.

SERWER: I think you're absolutely right, and maybe another or an enhanced national energy policy.

M. O'BRIEN: Excellent idea. Andy Serwer, another week of giving continues with Andy Serwer -- Soledad.

SERWER: Yes, indeed. Thank you, Miles

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, if you're worried about the bird flu, it might sound counterintuitive, be we've got an expert who will tell us stocking up on Tamiflu The drug, Tamiflu, is a bad idea. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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